Ahead of Trump visit, Japan's Abe urges pressure on N. Korea

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Ahead of Trump visit, Japan's Abe urges pressure on N. Korea

2017-11-02 09:56 Last Updated At：09:56

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stressed Wednesday that pressure should be increased on North Korea to convince it to begin talks on ending its nuclear and missile programs.

Japan's parliament re-elected Abe as prime minister earlier Wednesday, just in time for U.S. President Donald Trump's arrival Saturday on the first stop of his first tour of Asia as president.

Abe reiterated his full backing of Trump's policy of putting all options, including military ones, on the table in dealing with North Korea. He said he hopes to have extensive talks with the American leader to step up cooperation between the U.S. and Japan regarding North Korea.

"I hope to set aside ample time to analyze with him North Korea's latest developments and discuss ways to respond, and make sure we cooperate even more closely toward an early resolution of the North Korean nuclear and missile problem," Abe told a news conference after reappointing his Cabinet.

He described the security environment surrounding Japan as one of the most severe since World War II because of North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threat. Abe also pledged to introduce measures to strengthen Japan's national security.

Japan and the United States have imposed sanctions on North Korea in addition to tough new measures imposed by the U.N. Security Council after the North tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles and conducted its most powerful nuclear explosion yet.

Abe, who has been Japan's leader since December 2012, easily won a majority of votes in the parliamentary balloting Wednesday.

Abe, 63, dissolved parliament's lower house in late September to force an election. Political analysts saw the move as an attempt to win a new public mandate and re-establish his hold on power after a plunge in approval ratings during the summer.

His Liberal Democratic Party won a large majority in the Oct. 22 popular vote. Together with a junior coalition partner, the Komei Party, it retained a two-thirds majority in the more powerful lower house.

The victory boosts Abe's chances of being re-elected as LDP leader next September for another three-year term, potentially extending his premiership to 2021.

Strong quake in southwestern Japan leaves 9 with minor injuries, but no tsunami

2024-04-18 17:19 Last Updated At：17:30

TOKYO (AP) — A strong earthquake that struck southwestern Japan late Wednesday left nine people with minor injuries and caused damages such as burst water pipes and small landslides, authorities said, but there was no danger of a tsunami.

The magnitude 6.6 quake was centered just off the western coast of the southwestern main island of Shikoku, in an area called the Bungo Channel, a strait separating Shikoku and the southern main island of Kyushu.

The quake occurred 50 kilometers (30 miles) below the sea's surface and posed no danger of a tsunami, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Thursday that six in Ehime prefecture, two in neighboring Kochi and two others in Oita on Kyushu island suffered minor injuries, mostly from falling at home.

Water pipes were ruptured at a number of locations in Sukumo City in Kochi prefecture, and grave stones collapsed at a Buddhist temple in Ainan town in Ehime prefecture, according to local media reports. Falling rooftiles were also reported.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were reported from four reactors operating at three nuclear power plants in Shikoku and Kyushu.

As part of the Pacific “ring of fire," Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone areas. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in March 2011 devastated large areas along Japan's northeastern coast, killing nearly 20,000 people and triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdowns. On Jan. 1, a magnitude 7.6 quake struck the north-central region of Noto and left 241 people dead.